You've Never Been This Far Before

AMG Review of You've Never Been This Far Before

Thom Jurek
All Music Guide

In 1973, Conway Twitty was still among the handful of kings of the countrypolitan sound. The title track of this set had some problems at country radio due to what was supposedly the suggestive nature of its title. Too bad radio missed out on a great song and a very fine Twitty album. He wrote both singles on the album, the other being the wondrously sad "Baby's Gone." In typical fashion, Twitty's voice was still in fine shape after almost 20 years of belting it out on records and stages. This is Twitty at his most country-fried, and there is still that ockabilly sheen to his delivery such as on "Bring It On Home to Your Woman." But the gift of Twitty's interpretive singing is felt best on cuts like Wiley Smith's "Til the Pain Outwears the Shame." He stays in the honky tonk groove and takes it to the bridge of pure sorrowful wail with a backing chorus boosting him up into the stratosphere. On "Baby's Gone," it becomes clear that Elvis Presley listened to a lot of Twitty in the late '60s and early '70s. His phrasing reflects it. And Twitty was so much more honest emotionally. And when he gets into the upper registers as he does on Jack Dunham's "When the Final Change Is Made," the spine tingles. And yet, he can turn a classic like Harlan Howard's "Above and Beyond (The Call of Love)" into a Buck Owens-styled Bakersfield honky tonk stomper. You've Never Been This Far Before is a remarkable album that contains within it all the magic that Twitty brought to country music.